Aeroplane.



M. L. KUES.

ABROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22, 1913.

1,098,735 Patented June 2, 1914.

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llNlTEU STATES PATENT UFl lltlE.

MARTIN L. KORS, t? CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AIEIRUJPLANE.

inaaras.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARTIN L. lions, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of(look and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful improvementsin Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in a eropl anes.

M ore especially it relates to improvements in devices for stabilizingand in other respects controlling aeroplanes While in flight.

Tin-aeroplanes as now customarily built the machine is kept upright inflight by Warping the ends of the planes, or by other- \vise bending orturning the main or auxiliary planes about an axis transverse to theline of flight. By thus increasing the angle of incidence of the planeupon the air an increased lifting component is obtained and also anincreased resistance to forward motion Which tends to turn the machineabout on its vertical axis, which it not properly met, will not onlyprogressively change the direction of flight but may ultimately resultin causing the machine to fall, lilence a counter-correction is appliedby operating the rudder oi the machine. The degree of lateral diversionvaries, depending upon many factors so that there is no precise relationbetween'the degree of Warping applied to correct stability and thedegree of rudder turning or eountercorrection that must. be appliedsin1ultaneously,-and the proper and justment varies also as a tippedmachine regains equilibrium, so that the incessant at tention of theaviator is required, and sometimes also a high degree of skill, with anever present danger that the operator may become confused or may err injudgment as to Whether manipulation of the correction or or thecounter-correction is needed, or

to the relative degree in which these two elements should be moved.

it is one object of this invention to simplity these problems byeliminating the necessity for a cooperating movement ot thelaterally-acting" rudder. Both the Warping and the rudder action imposea wasteful drag upon the machine, consuming a certain amount of power,delaying progress and putting heavier stresses upon the structure. fitsthe departures from equilibrium. are iii-- eessant thiseirtra stress 0trecovery is incessant, and subject tosudden chan es, being greatestWhenever the danger at i U ping too Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 22, 1913.

Patented June 2, twist,

serial No. 786.0%

far is greatest. As there are natural limitations upon the Weight andstrength of parts, this extrav stress diminishes, to an ap preciable,although perhaps indeterminate, percentage the factor of safety in anaeroplane, ltalso increases the power required, above that which mightotherwise be necessary, reduces the carrying capacity, and tends to themore rapid exhaustion of the aviators physical and mental powers of control of the machine lit 'is another object of the present inven tion toeliminate these objections to aviation, as now practised, by providing astab ilizing device which eliminates the drag occasioned by the Warping,and the augmentation of stress in time ol danger from tip- P1110".

it is also object to diminish the extra demand upon the power plant forregaining stability, resulting in increase of speed or carrying capacitywith a given power, to diminish the strength of parts needed, and toreduce the degree of skill rc uisiteol? the aviator for maintainingSiftllllll, to produce a style of control oi iparatus which will, lenditself more readily to automatic governing.

lit is a further object oi the ention to attain the other advantagesthat character ize structures embodying the invention, among which maybe mentioned the ability to eliect an ascent or descent of the machineindependently out the rudder heretofore al Ways provided for thatpurpose; and the pro vision for manipulation with certainty andpositiveness upon the exercise ot force by the aviator vastly less thanthat hitherto re quired.

The objects of the invention are accomplished by providing devicesin'the nature of valves to relieve the supporting air pres sure underthat side of the aeroplane which is too high, tins utilizing the forceat gravity instead of operating against it; by ar ranging these valves,in the term of one or more units, as shutters pivoted on ares parallelto the direction of light and by nearly balancing them individi'aally ontheir pivots; by providing so these valves form a part -oli thectl'ective lifting plane when closed, and may be opened to aryingdegrees as desired, in either main lane to control lateral stability, orin hot main planes to control the longitudinal. stabil by pro viding sothat these valves are an omatically tilt) opened by the main airpressure when permitted by the operator, voluntarily or involuntarily,and yet, being nearly balanced, can be closed by him by an exertion ofstrength corresponding to only a fraction of their lifting power; byproviding vanes for steadying the valves when opened; and by otherfeatures that will appear from the construction disclosed herein.

In the accompanying drawings which represent an embodiment of theinvention somewhat diagrammatically: Figure 1 is a plan of a monoplane;Fig. 2 is a perspective view, showing a fragment of the plane, with thevalves open, on a larger scale; and Fig. 3 is an elevation showing adetail in section on the line 33 of Fig. 1, enlarged.

Referring-to the drawings, which represent the application of theinvention to a monoplane of well known type, the planes on oppositesides of the machine are marked 10 and 10 respectively, and are joinedto the frame 11 which carries a seat 12 for the aviator, an engine 13, apropeller 14 and any other ordinary or suitable appliances, such asrudders (not shown) for directing the course of the machine in thehorizontal plane and in the vertical plane. Toward the lateral extremityof each of the main planes 10, 10', are arranged the valves, in twounits 15, 15, on one side of the machine and in two correspondinglyplaced units 15', 15, on the other side of the machine. These valves areso arranged as to form part of the main planes when closed, and, beingset in the midst of their respective planes, contribute to the supportof the machine in the air in proportion to their respective areas. Theyare pivoted, as represented at 16, on axes running fore and aft of themachine near the middle of each valve so that they are capable ofopening as illustrated in Fig. 2. They may, obviously, be designed sothat either the inboard or the outboard edge opens upward; and so thatthey are balanced upon their respective pivots to any desired degree ofperfection, and so that the unbalanced edge is that which opens upwardor that which opens downward. In the construction illustrated the upwardpressure of air under the main planes 10, 10, tends to open the inboarded es of the valves upward, the area of each va ve lying inboard fromits pivots being slightly larger than that lying outboard. The forcewith which the air tends thus to open them is dependent upon the degreeto -which the area on one side of the valve pivot exceeds the area onthe other side and is therefore only a small fraction of the totallifting force of the air under the valve. The cord 17, by which thevalves 15 may be drawn to and held in their closed positions isconnectedwith any suitable device arranged in a convenient position forcontrol by the aviator. The particular device illustrated is a pedal 18placed on the opposite side of the plane, laterally, from the valves 15,the corresponding cord 17, leading from the valves 15 and crossing tothe side of the plane remote laterally from them is also seen, its pedalbeing marked 18'. If the valves be considered as being a foot wide, thedrawing represents five inches of that width as being on the outboardside of the pivot and seven inches on the inboard side of the pivot; andof the latter, five inches balance the five inches first mentioned andtwo inches are unbalanced. This unbalanced area is extended by auxiliaryvanes 19, preferably arranged in sections, which may be of aluminum orother suitable material, attached to the top of the valve and projectingstill farther inboard. When the valve is closed these vanes shut downclose upon the top of the plane, as seen clearly in Fig. 3. They arethen ineffective, for the valve itself is then seated against surfaces20 prepared for it on the cross ribs of the main plane and no air frombelow has access to them. But when the valve is open, as illustrated inFig. 2, so that air is rushing up through the opening and against theunder sides of the vanes 19,these auxiliary vanes furnish an additionalarea against which the'rush of air presses upward, thus fortifying theunbalanced two inches in tending to keep the valve pressed steadilyopen, so far as the cord 17 will allow.

It will be understood that as the drawings are merely explanatory theproportions of parts are distorted in some respects in order torepresent the parts on as large a scale as possible, leaving it for theconstructor of an aeroplane embodying the invention to design the actualdimensions of his parts according to his particular needs; but it may bementioned here that it is believed that in good practice the spacebetween a pair of valves 15, 15, will be generally designed wider thanthat represented. The general off a certain length of the outboard endsof the planes, viz., the part occupied by the valves and including inthe portion cut off the space 24 between the valves. This will be truewhenever that space 24 is narrow enough for the air pressure under it tobe relieved by the proximity of the open valve.

The degree of proximity illustrated will accomplish that, and it isbelieved that experiment will show that a space 24 which is nearly twiceas wide as the adjacent valves will thus be relieved of its liftingpower. The mounting of the valves consists of ferrules surrounding thefront and rear edge bars of the main plane, carrying the studs eona/an16 which constitute the pivots of the valves. The bearings of the valveson these pivots may be strengthened by supplementary outrigged bearings22, but it will be obvious that any other suitable form of mountingmight be adopted.

ln operation the aviator normally holds the pedals 18, 18, depressed.thus drawing all of the valves to their closed positions. When themachine is in flight there is air pressure upward. against the undersurfaces of the planes 10, 10. To correct a tipping of the machinetoward either side the aviator releases somewhat his pressure on thepedal 18, or 18, whichever is on the lower side, whereupon the airpressure acting upward on the unbalanced parts of valves on the higherside of the machine immediately opens those valves to whatever extentthe release of the pedal permits. The air support on that side of theplane is immediately reduced owing to the escape of air through theopenings thus made, while the support of the plane on the other side ofthe machine remains unchanged. When the support of the upper side oftheapparatus has been sutliciently reduced that part of the apparatus willbegin to sink downward because the force of gravity has become slightlysuperior to the uplifting force. The rate of sinking is not that of afall under the influence of the full force of gravity, but is gentle,depending on what may be called the net force of gravity, which may becontrolled and varied by opening the valves on the high side to agreater extent to increase it; or by closing them to decrease it; and itis obvious that a machine can be made with planes and valves of suitableproportions to accomplish this to any degree or refinement of accu racythat may be desired. 'l he motion by which the aviator accomplishes thisis naturallyexecuted correctly by him because it is instinctivetoincline his body toward the side which is higher, thus withdrawing hisfoot pressure from the side which is lower.

- The tipping" oil the plane therefore giveshim automatic indication asto which valves ought to be opened. lit is to be noted that therestoration of equilibrium is thus accomplished without warping orotherwise changing either plane so as to change its angle of incidenceto the air in forward flight. Hence there is no deflection of theapparatus from its true course or flight and no tendency to turn about avertical axis; and no counter-correction is necessary ot the sortprovided in other apparatus by resort to the rudder. Consequently thespeed oi the forward flight is not materially at lectedby thestabilising operation, because no drag; is imposed either by the valvesl5 nor by a couliter-correcting rudder. lln tact the correction consistsmerely in relieving the excess pressure on the high side, which is aprocess of reducing stresses, in contradistinction to the remedy appliedin aeroplanes of the now prevalent type, by warping the planes, which isin e'l'l'ect an increasing of tension on one side of the apparatus tobalance and exceed an already execessive pressure on the other side. Theelimination of the rudder manipulation necessary in a plane controlledby warping or the like makes an important simplification in the degreeof skill required of the aviator, for heretofore the lateral equilibriumhas been dependent upon the inter-relation of three independent andconstantly changing it'orces, two of which, the warping and the rudder,have to be combined by the aviator into a resultantthat will neutralizeor correct the third, which is the wind, and numerous other causes thattend to disturb equilibrium. llitli the apparatus of the invention thereis only a single variable, the valves, which the aviator need change inor der to combat the other variable, the tendency of equilibrium to bedisturbed, which is a much simpler proposition than is the combining oftwo variables to that end. llt is a further advantage of the inventionthat the apparatus operates with great ease and certainty; and to thisend those features by which the valves are opened by the air pressure,the operator, however, having; to restrain only a fraction of the entirelift ing" force of the valves, and are strictly controllable as todegree opening and are practically free from friction in operation, areimportant. The general eflect of openingthe valves is the same aseliminating a proportional amount of the area of the aeroplane. l orexample, when both valves 15 are wide open the area of the plane betweenthem and to the left of them in Fl 1 will afford little or no support tothe apparatus, because the air impinging; thereon flows out instantlythrough the valve openings. Hence the area of the plane from the nearestvalve 15 to the center should be designed to afford whatever support isconsidcred a necessary minimum, the remain der of the plane beingcapable of adding any desired increment of supplementary support, up tothe full area with the valves closed. Obviously the valves may be madein units of any desired size and gradation as may be deemed expedient.

While the operation described has been one of stabilizing, laterally,and upon the assumption that their valves would normally be closed,except when that on the high side is opened, the apparatus'might beoperated by maintaining both. somewhatopen normally. and then openingthe high valves and closing; the low valve tor r' storation oilstability, t s getting; quicker results. hlapidity oi results can. alsobe pose the valves on both sides are to be opened or closed together andequally. The head of the machine Will then sink or rise with respect tothe rear float or rudder. This is a safeguard to which resort can be hadin case the control cords of that rudder become jammed.

lVhile the invention has been illustrated as it, may be applied to amonoplane operated by motor, it is obvious that it is not limited tothat type of plane, nor to motor driven apparatus, and it will beunderstood that many variations may be made from the specific embodimentof the invention here disclosed Without departing from the scope of theinvention or of the appended claim, the purpose of which is to coverWhatever of patentable novelty exists in the invention disclosed.

I claim as my invention In a flying machine the combination ofsupporting surfaces with valves adapted to release a portion of the airsupporting them; said valves being individually nearly balanced withrespect to the effect of said supporting air When seated; and vanes. onthe valves extending beyond their seats on that side of the supportingsurfaces from which they open, thereby steadying the valves When open.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this tifteenth day of August, 1913.

MARTIN L. KORS. Witnesses:

Eviinn'rr E. KENT,

JOSEPH T. BRENNAN,

